


Never Had Much Faith

by likezoinxman



Category: Big Time Rush
Genre: Implied Violence, M/M, Multi, Pre-Slash, also i have no clue what i'm doing so bear with me please, i will also be referencing SPN and other TV shows sometime in the future, mythology/fantasy/supernatural au, non-consensual situations of a mostly non-sexual nature
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-23
Updated: 2013-05-23
Packaged: 2017-11-26 16:11:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/652089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likezoinxman/pseuds/likezoinxman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James and Kendall are part of the Supernatural Crimes Division of the FBI. They investigate supernatural occurrences across the country. Logan is in charge of the Archives, where they store powerful magical items to be used during cases. When Mercedes Griffin, a rogue agent, breaks in and steals some particularly dangerous items, Logan is assigned to work with James and Kendall to retrieve them before it’s too late. </p>
<p>There’s only one problem: James and Logan can't stand each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Soo...this took forever and a half for me to finish and it's not even _done_! I'm sorry for that. I just have this problem where I come up with elaborate fic plots completely forgetting that I am absolute rubbish at following through with them. I'll try to keep on track with this fic, but I'm easily distracted so we'll see how that goes, pfft.
> 
> Anyway, this combines two prompts provided by [callmeadreamer](callmeadreamer.livejournal.com) for the [Jagan/Kenlos Fic Exchange](http://logan-james.livejournal.com/tag/big%20time%20exchange) over at the [James/Logan LJ Community](logan-james.livejournal.com). The two prompts were "Crime AU! Either they're the criminals or the cops, or a mixture of both (like cop!James and criminal!Logan)" and "Something supernatural, take it and run as far and as creatively as possible (just no werewolf&vampire!Jagan Romeo and Juliet forbidden interspecies type lovestory please?)". This came out more of a mythology/fantasy AU than supernatural but I hope you like it anyway. :)
> 
> Edit: THANKS TO THE AMAZING [KT](http://archiveofourown.org/users/rensahannou/pseuds/rensahannou) FOR THE BETA. ♥

The explosion was an accident.

They were in the warehouse district by the bay, chasing after their latest lead. His name was Tyler and according to his file, he could control fire. He had bright red hair and freckles all over his face. He was short and stocky, not much to look at at first glance but James still wouldn’t want to get into any kind of fair fight with him.

They followed him into a warehouse and immediately lost him among the crates stacked almost to the ceiling.

“Crap, where did he go?”

Kendall opened his mouth then stopped, head tilting to the side, a look of concentration on his face. He glanced around quickly and before James could ask what he’d heard or smelled or _felt_ with his freaky senses, he was grabbing James by the arm and tugging roughly. They barely made it out of the way before the fireball whizzed past over their heads. They ran behind some crates for cover, kneeling together.

James turned to Kendall, eyes wide in shock and whispered fiercely. “Fireballs? Since when can he shoot fireballs? I thought he could only control fire, not conjure it up!”

“He must’ve leveled up.”

They stared at each other quietly for a few moments before James snorted in reluctant amusement and Kendall grinned. “Shut up, he’s going to hear us,” James said and shoved gently at Kendall’s shoulder.

Kendall shook his head and peered over the top of the stack of crates they were hiding behind quickly. “He’s got a lighter,” he whispered as he ducked back down.

Right, that made sense.

Another fireball flew overhead and they both ducked down further. Kendall wrapped an arm around James protectively and glanced back over the crates. “Okay, I think he’s spotted us.”

“What do we do?”

“I’ll distract him and you get that lighter away from him.”

Kendall moved to get up but James grabbed him by the arm. “No, wait. I’ll distract him. You’re faster than me, you’ll be able to catch him if he tries to run.”

Kendall shook his head and opened his mouth to argue but James was already getting to his feet. “Hey! Over here!”

The shouting was unnecessary because Tyler was already focused on him before he even got the first word out, a fireball flying towards him on the second. He managed to dodge it, but there was a second one right after it. His eyes widened and he ducked behind another crate just in time. The fireball hit the crate instead and James jumped slightly at the sound of the impact.

He tried to look over the crate but he found it on fire, flames blocking his view. “Shit,” he muttered, panic rising in him as he crawled away from the flames. The last thing he needed was to be near flames, not with the amount of hair products he put in his hair.

He eventually reached the end of the row and peeked around the corner. Tyler was still in the same place he’d been in before, lighter in one hand, ball of flame in the other. James quickly ducked behind the crate before Tyler spotted him. He took a deep breath, only regretting his decision to be the bait a little before springing to his feet.

“Come on, is that all you got?” he shouted breathlessly, running out into the open. Tyler threw fireball after fireball at him and he managed to stay ahead of them. He skidded to a stop when Tyler decided to change things up and threw one in James’ path instead.

James tried to backtrack, spinning around to run in the opposite direction but Tyler threw another ball of fire to cut him off. James backed up against a stack of crates, panting heavily as Tyler approached. He glanced around frantically, searching for a sign of Kendall but there was nothing yet. ‘Come on, man,’ he thought and gave Tyler a shaky smile.

Tyler didn’t return it, mouth set in a firm line. He lifted the lighter in one hand, thumb steady over the flint wheel, ready to ignite it at any moment. “Why are you after me?”

James took a deep breath and relaxed his shoulders, smile transforming into a cocky smirk. “ _We just need some information_ ,” he said, voice soft and lilting. He inwardly cringed as Tyler’s eyes clouded over, going distant.

Tyler blinked twice rapidly, gave his head a little shake like he was just hit with something. He looked at James suspiciously and James knew it wouldn’t be enough to just use his voice. “What do you want to know?”

James shrugged as nonchalantly as he could, bringing up one hand to wave in a dismissive gesture. “Oh, nothing much,” James said and made a show of fiddling with his gloves. He steeled himself for what he was about to do. “Just whatever you know about Mercedes Griffin,” he said and absently started to pull off one of his black leather gloves.

Mercedes Griffin was a rogue agent. She disappeared over a month ago with some vital intel. James and Kendall had been put on the case to bring her back but so far they’d found nothing but dead ends. It didn’t help that they were getting pressure from Gustavo who was no doubt getting pressured from Director Griffin to find her. Everyone knew how spoiled Mercedes was and James was pretty sure this was just her way of throwing some kind of temper tantrum to get attention from her father.

Tyler was their first real lead and there was no way James was going to let him get away. He managed to get one finger loose before a growl emanated from behind some crates a few yards away. It was so deep and low that James felt it more than heard it, reverberating in his chest and making his pulse spike with fear. He felt sweat prickle at his hairline and he glanced over towards the sound.

There was a rustle, a blur of dark fur and then the creature stepped out into the open, nose tilted up, scenting the air. It wasn’t like a wolf. It stood on two legs, hunched over, broad shouldered with long arms almost touching the ground. Its hands were still like human hands but with dangerously sharp claws. Its fur was a dark gray, almost black and its eyes were a golden brown, flashing briefly when the light hit them.

It always took a moment for James to reconcile the beast with the man he knew. And even though he knew it was just Kendall, his heart still jackhammered in his chest, fear running through him at first glance. It was some kind of natural, primal instinct to be scared, some part of him buried deep down knowing that this creature could kill him, tear him apart with barely any effort.

He swallowed and shook his head. He knew he wasn’t in any kind of danger. Not from Kendall. He’d explained it to James once, how he was still himself but _not_ , how he understood James and recognized him as a friend and ally but he wasn’t fully in control of himself. He wasn’t a mindless beast but his reasoning was overruled by his instincts. He _acted_ before he thought and James knew how much Kendall was afraid of hurting the wrong person when he shifted.

“Holy crap!”

James couldn’t help but grin at Tyler’s reaction at seeing Kendall, eyes flying wide as he backed away in fear. “If you come quietly and tell us everything you know, I’ll make sure he doesn’t hurt you.”

Tyler flicked his gaze to James briefly before turning his attention fully back to Kendall. James could tell the moment Tyler made the wrong choice. James’ eyes widened as Tyler flicked his lighter to life and gathered the flame into a ball in his other hand. It happened too fast and before James could even think to stop him, Tyler was flinging the fireball at Kendall.

James watched, eyes wide as it hit Kendall in the shoulder. The beast clutched at his chest, fur singed and James thought he could see reddened skin beneath it. He winced in sympathy then backed up further against the stack of crates as Kendall’s eyes focused on Tyler. He snarled and then he was _bounding_ towards Tyler, long arms propelling him forward fast.

Tyler’s eyes widened and he tried to run. He managed to turn around, arms flailing slightly with the momentum of his movements but he barely made it two steps before Kendall was on him, tackling him to the ground. The scream Tyler let out was cut off as he hit the ground, the air knocked out of him from the weight of Kendall on him. Tyler struggled slightly, trying to push the beast off of him but Kendall leaned in close to his face, upper lip pulled back in a snarl and Tyler stopped moving. Stopped breathing for all James knew because the next moment, Tyler was out cold.

Tyler’s lighter had clattered across the ground, slipping from his grip when Kendall collided with him. James walked over and picked it up and slipped it into his pocket before he walked back over to Kendall and Tyler.

“Good job, Kendall,” he said brightly, reaching out to place his hand on Kendall’s shoulder. James briefly buried his fingers into the thick fur, knowing that it was rough and course. He couldn’t feel it then with his hands covered in leather but they’d been partners long enough for James to have touched Kendall in the past.

Kendall swung his head around towards James, eyes flashing and he growled low in his throat in warning, a reminder really. James quickly removed his hand. “Sorry,” he muttered and tucked his hands into his pockets.

Kendall shook his head and moved away from Tyler, giving James room to kneel down and check his pulse. Satisfied that he was still alive, he rolled him over and handcuffed his hands behind his back. He cringedat the blood matting the back of Tyler’s hair and hoped he woke up soon, he didn’t feel like carrying him back to the car.

“Fuck, that hurts.”

James looked up to see that Kendall had shifted back, touching his shoulder gingerly with a pained expression on his face. The skin was dark red and blistered and James had to resist the urge to reach out and touch too.

“I’m sure your boyfriend will fix that right up for you.”

Kendall glared at James. “Just for that, you get to carry him to the car,” he said and flung his t-shirt and shirt over his uninjured shoulder before he walked away without another word.

“What? Kendall, come on, I was just kidding!” he called after Kendall’s retreating back but Kendall kept walking away. James called out one more time. “Kendall!”

When it was apparent that Kendall wasn’t going to help him, he rolled his eyes and let out a huff of annoyance. He glanced down at Tyler’s prone body then leaned over, bending at the waist to reach down and grab Tyler’s arm. He pulled him up, bending at the knee so he could get him over his shoulder. Tyler was unsurprisingly heavy and James grunted softly as Tyler’s weight settled over his shoulder.

He staggered a few steps forward before he adjusted to the extra weight and slowly made his way out of the warehouse toward their car. He glared at Kendall as he approached. Kendall grinned at him from where he was leaning against the driver’s side.

“He’s really heavy just so you know,” he said as he slid Tyler off his shoulder and leaned him against the rear car door.

Kendall grinned at him. “I’m injured, remember?”

James rolled his eyes, a retort ready on his tongue. He didn’t get a chance to say it though since the next moment, there was a loud but small explosion followed quickly by a larger one and then another even bigger one.

“Holy shit!” James cried out, the force of the explosion throwing him against the car side. His arms instinctively wrapped around his head to protect himself from any potential falling debris. When he was sure it was safe, he let his arms down slowly and glanced over his shoulder at the warehouse before he turned to stare at Kendall in wide-eyed disbelief. “What the fuck was in those crates?”

Kendall blinked at him, eyes just as wide as James’ and shook his head. “I don’t know…”

They looked at each other then turned back towards the burning building before back to each other, mouths hanging open in shock. Suddenly, James laughed. It bubbled out of him without any warning and it set Kendall off and they stood laughing beside the car for a few minutes until Tyler started to come to and James shoved him into the backseat.

James was still chuckling slightly while Kendall drove them back to headquarters. It wasn’t that funny, yet it was. If they had taken a few minutes longer to catch Tyler they would’ve been caught in that explosion, might have even _died_. It wasn’t the first explosion they’d narrowly escaped and it probably wouldn’t be their last but it was, however, the first explosion that _they_ hadn’t set.

——

The Supernatural Crimes Division was a sub-category of the FBI dedicated to solving the world’s more…special cases. Bodies found mysteriously drained of blood, people disappearing in the woods, or people seemingly in two places at once were too much for normal agents to handle. Not just physically, but emotionally and mentally as well. Humans liked to play pretend that things like vampires and werewolves existed but faced with the reality of their existence and suddenly they were having nervous breakdowns and retiring early.

So, the only logical solution was to create an organization made up of creatures of the same nature to keep things in order. Not many people knew they existed. The offices for the SCD were located several levels below the FBI headquarters and only the top officials even knew they were there.

James hadn’t even known they existed until they caught him using his powers illegally at the age of nineteen.

James was actually more human than not. His great-grandmother had been a siren but his great-grandfather had been human. And so had his grandfather and his own father as well so the siren blood he inherited from his mother was diluted, weak but still strong enough that he was able to entrance others. He could make them do anything he wanted with just the sound of his voice and a small touch.

He used it a lot to his advantage when he was younger, often getting in trouble for it with his mother. She was the only one that he couldn’t use his powers on and because of that when his parents divorced, he chose his father over his mother. He could control his father and get away with anything he wanted and James liked having that kind of power over someone.

After high school, James moved to LA to become a popstar and once again, he used his siren heritage to his advantage. He didn’t think much of it because hey, there were people that _slept_ their way to the top and what he was doing wasn’t quite at bad as _that_.

He learned how wrong he was a year after he arrived in LA and found himself arrested, waiting in an interrogation room, handcuffed to a table. He looked around the room, not sure what he had done wrong. He was pretty sure he hadn’t done _anything_ wrong. At least not something that would land him here. He wasn’t worried though. All he had to do was say a couple words and he’d be out of there in no time.

He looked up when the door opened and in walked a woman in a suit, holding a folder in one hand.

“Hello, Mr. Diamond. I’m Special Agent Wainwright,” she said, pulling out the chair opposite James.

James smiled at her pleasantly. “ _Let me go_ ,” he said, words light and lilting, laced with the undeniable allure of a siren.

Agent Wainwright wasn’t fazed and James’ smile fell flat when she simply said, “No.”

It happened sometimes. James would come across someone whose will was too strong for him to manipulate with his words alone. He tugged on the cuffs around his wrists, the chain clinking lightly as the links shifted against each other. There was no way he was going to get her close enough to touch.

She let out a small sigh and leaned forward slightly. “Do you realize how much trouble you’re in?”

“What? But I haven’t _done_ anything.”

Agent Wainwright shook her head. “We have six documented instances of you manipulating a human using your powers.”

James’ mouth went dry, his eyes widening in surprise. “ _What_?”

Wainwright smiled at him before she turned her attention to the folder on the table. She flipped it open and read aloud. “James Diamond. Part Siren. Manipulates a person’s will with the sound of his voice. May need skin-on-skin contact if confronted with a being with a strong-will.”

“Oh.” It was all he could think to say. He didn’t know what to think. How did they know about him? What were they going to do with him now? His mind flashed with images of being poked and prodded or worse and he felt a flash of panic rise in his chest.

Agent Wainwright smiled gently and reached over to pat the back of James’ hand briefly. “Relax, James. We only want to help you.”

——

James met Kendall the first day of Academy but they didn’t hit it off right away. Kendall rubbed James in all the wrong ways with his ability to rally people to him with just his words. He didn’t need any special power to do it either. It was just him, his natural charisma working for him and making people listen.

James kind of hated him.

But it was hard not to like Kendall. He kind of grew on you, got under your skin and made you want to be a better person.

He was a leader. Anyone could see that. The way he never gave in, even when it was in his best interest to stand down. He confronted the trainers whenever he thought someone was being mistreated. He was always there with words of motivation and encouragement when the other students seemed to be losing faith in themselves.

James couldn’t help but admire him for it and it was only natural that James fell in love with Kendall.

Well. Love was probably a bit strong, but James did have a strong desire to make out with Kendall.

Unfortunately, no matter how alluring James tried to be, Kendall didn’t seem the least bit interested in him. He knew Kendall was at least bisexual. He’d seen him flirting with other guys in their class but when it came to James, there was nothing. It was frustrating because James knew he was more attractive than anyone else in the academy, male or female, so why wasn’t Kendall interested in him?

James eventually gave it up as a lost cause but decided that he at least wanted a kiss from Kendall, whether Kendall wanted to kiss _him_ or not.

It was a spur of the moment decision really. They were in the gym, resting on one of the side benches after a workout. James watched as Kendall swept his sweat-soaked hair out of his face, grinning at James slightly before he brought his water bottle up to his lips. James’ eyes focused on each bob of Kendall’s throat and he licked his lips.

“Kendall…”

Kendall turned towards James. “Yeah?”

“ _I want you to kiss me_.”

James wasn’t surprised when Kendall was unaffected by his words. If there was ever anyone that wouldn’t be affected by the power of his voice alone, it was Kendall.

Kendall’s eyes widened and he shook his head. He set his water bottle down on the bench between them. “James,” he started slowly, gently, the way James had heard him talk when he let down other people.

James didn’t want to hear the rejection that was coming next so he quickly placed his hand on Kendall’s bare shoulder and tried again.

“ _I want you to kiss me, Kendall_.”

This time Kendall’s eyes clouded over just a little and his mouth parted slightly. James licked his lips and leaned forwards, eyes drifting closed.

Suddenly, his hand was being slapped away, causing his eyes to snap open. He found Kendall frowning at him, brows furrowed deeply. “What are you doing?”

James’ cheeks flushed in embarrassment and he quickly moved away from Kendall. “Nothing,” he said, averting his gaze.

“What the fuck, James? Were you trying to use your _powers_ on me?”

“No, of course not!”

“Don’t lie to me!”

James pressed his lips together firmly and refused to look at Kendall. He didn’t know what to say. No one had ever been able to resist him when he touched them like that. It was a first and the embarrassment of not only being rejected but having his power fail him for the first time was too much.

“James!” Kendall barked at him in that annoyingly authoritative way he had that had James’ eyes snapping towards him automatically.

“I just wanted to kiss you, okay? Just once.”

“So, what? You were just going to violate my trust and kiss me whether I wanted to or not?”

James’ lips tightened, chest heaving slightly. “You weren’t supposed to be able to say no!”

Kendall’s mouth fell open slightly and he stared at James, dumbfounded. “What? I just- You-”

Kendall stopped and then opened and closed his mouth a few times. It was the first time James had seen Kendall so speechless and he suddenly felt like he was missing something because he didn’t see what the big deal was.

Finally, Kendall seemed to give up on trying to form words and just shook his head before he silently grabbed his towel and water bottle.

“Where are you going?”

“Away from you,” Kendall said, tone clipped and hard. He wouldn’t even look at James and James felt like he’d really screwed up.

James got to his feet and reached out for Kendall, taking a step towards him. “What? Come on, Kendall. It’s not-”

Kendall held a hand up and the words died on James’ tongue, stopping him from moving any closer. “Don’t,” was all Kendall said before he slung his towel over his shoulder and spun on his heel.

James watched Kendall walk away, chest feeling tight with anger and embarrassment.

——

For the next week, Kendall only spoke to James when he had to. His words were always clipped and distant and he made a point to not get any closer to James than he had to. It hurt but James bore it with as much dignity as possible. If Kendall was going to throw things all out of proportion then that was his problem. When Kendall was ready to get over himself then James _might_ be there to forgive him.

But by the end of the week, James was just angry. He was angry at Kendall for making such a big deal about it, for not forgiving him. But he was also angry at himself for fucking everything up.

By the middle of the second week of Kendall’s silent treatment, James decided it was time to sacrifice his pride for the sake of his friendship with Kendall. The fact that this was even an option made it clear that it was the right decision. James wouldn’t deny that he was selfish and stubborn and he had never _needed_ anyone’s approval before. But for some reason, he wanted Kendall’s, wanted his approval and his friendship and whatever else Kendall wanted to give him.

He tracked Kendall down at the library and sat down heavily in the seat beside him. Kendall didn’t bother looking up at him but James saw the way his jaw tightened so he knew that Kendall knew it was him.

“Kendall, I’m sorry,” he said eventually, after letting the silence drag on until it was almost unbearable.

Kendall kept his gaze down on his book, jaw set. James noticed how his hand was closed in a tight fist against the table top.

“Kendall, please stop being mad at me,” he tried again, gently. He wanted to reach out and touch Kendall, force him to look at him and forgive him but that’s what got him in trouble in the first place. Besides, it’s not like it would work anyway. James took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Please, Kendall. You’re my only friend.”

It was true and even more pathetic than that, Kendall was probably James’ first _real_ friend, someone that knew who and what he was. But even more than that, he was now the first person James knew was his friend because he _wanted_ to be James’ friend. James would never be able to manipulate him, make him do anything or say anything Kendall didn’t want. If Kendall forgave him then it’d be because _Kendall_ wanted to and that was suddenly very important to James.

Kendall looked up then, eyes still guarded but at least he was looking at James and James let himself relax slightly. “You betrayed my trust, James. I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for that,” he said softly.

“It was just going to be a kiss, Kendall. I would’ve never done anything else, I swear.”

“Wouldn’t you? It’s just a kiss this time, James, but what happens when you want more?”

James floundered a bit, looking for words to defend himself. “What does it matter? I can’t use my powers on you anyway.”

“That’s not the point!”

“Well, what is it then?”

“You really don’t get it, do you? You betrayed my trust, James,” Kendall repeated like James was a little kid. “You were going to _use_ me and you don’t even care!” Kendall pushed his chair back suddenly and shot to his feet. He grabbed his book bag and started to shove his notes and books back into it.

“I do! I do care!” James grabbed onto Kendal’s jacket sleeve, trying to tug him back down.  
Kendall growled low in his throat, eyes flashing gold. It made James’ heartbeat spike, fear running cold down his spine and he quickly released Kendall.

Kendall quickly composed himself and looked down at James with a hard expression. “Just imagine if the situation had been reversed. If _I_ was the one taking away your control and what makes you _you_ just for my own selfish pleasure.”

James swallowed thickly. No one had ever explained it to him like that. He’d never even thought twice about using his powers on others, hadn’t thought about what it was like for them. At school with his classmates and teachers, no one knew what he was and what he could do so it was easy to get out of a lecture for anything he’d done. The same with his father, he just kept evading any kind of punishment until his father gave up. And his mother, the one person James _couldn’t_ manipulate with his powers, had stopped speaking to him when he was sixteen. James knew it was his own fault. He stopped returning her calls and avoided her when she came to visit.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly, heartfelt and sincere. “I’ve never thought about it like that before.”  
Kendall sighed over him and when James looked up the tension had leaked out of Kendall’s shoulders.

“Yeah, well, you’re lucky you have me now to teach you how to be a decent person.”

James couldn’t help the grin that tugged at the corners of his mouth. “So, does this mean you forgive me?”

Kendall sighed then rolled his eyes before he grew serious again. “Yeah but don’t ever do that to me again, do you understand, James?”

James nodded. “Yes, I promise.”

“We can’t be friends if I can’t trust you, James. I need to be able to trust you.”

James nodded again and wondered if it was a werewolf thing, or if it was just a Kendall thing, or maybe it was a little bit of both. “You can. I promise. I’ll never do it again,” he said, grinning wide, and drew an ‘x’ over his heart with his index finger.

——

James didn’t like using his power anymore after that. Not after Kendall tore it apart, showing him the ugly side of it. The thought of using it, even if it was just to get a confession, made him feel sick to his stomach.

Luckily, he only had to use it as a last resort. When nothing would get their suspect to talk, when even Kendall’s threatening deep-throated growls got nothing more than fearful babble and pleading.

Which is exactly what was happening with Tyler. He kept flinching every time Kendall spoke, eyes wide with fear. James was afraid Tyler was going to wet himself or worse and he finally interjected.

“Alright, I guess it’s my turn, Knight,” James said with a heavy sigh.

Kendall stopped his pacing as James stepped froward. “James…” he said softly and reached over to touch James’ arm but then stopped at the last minute.

James knew what he was going to say. He didn’t have to do this but the thing was that he _did_. They were getting nowhere with Tyler and even if he didn’t really know anything like he claimed, they had to know for sure. No one could lie to James. If he wanted them to tell him the truth then they would.

James flashed Kendall a quick smile, nodding shortly. “It’s fine.”

Kendall’s eyebrows communicated his worry, burrowing gently. “Are you sure? We can work him a little more. You don’t have to.”

“It’s fine. It’ll be easier this way and we can get out of here faster.”

Kendall studied James worriedly for a few more moments before he reluctantly nodded. “Alright,” he said and stepped away from the table, letting James take his place.

“What are you going to do?”

James turned his attention back to Tyler. He was looking at James in fear now, eyes flicking anxiously back to Kendall every few seconds.

James smiled and pulled out the seat across from Tyler. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt you,” he said as he unsnapped his gloves and started to pull them off. He flexed his hands gently, taking a moment to enjoy the cool air hitting the slightly clammy skin. “I’m just going to ask you a few questions.”

“I already told you, I don’t know anything.”

“Well, we’re just going to confirm that.” James reached across the table and placed his hand over Tyler’s before he could get another word in. “ _Just relax_.”

Tyler’s eyes clouded over instantly and he leaned back in his chair, tension leaking out of his entire body. James didn’t waste any time getting the first question out.

“ _Do you know Mercedes Griffin_?” They knew the answer to that but it was a good place to start.

“Yes.”

“ _How do you know her_?”

“She contacted me about a job.”

“ _What kind of job_?”

“She wanted me to steal something for her.”

“ _What was it_?”

“I don’t know. She never told me. I was supposed to meet her next week to get the details.”

James sighed. Of course they would arrest Tyler a week before he knew anything. But maybe they could still get something out of him. “ _Where were you going to meet her_?”

Tyler shook his head and James’ heart sank. “I don’t know. She was going to send me a message with a location.”

James sighed and glanced over at Kendall. Kendall had his arms crossed, face unreadable but James could probably take a good guess about what he was feeling. Anger, aggravation, frustration. James shook his head slightly and focused back on Tyler. “ _Do you know where she’s staying_?”

“No,”Tyler said, the word coming out strained. He looked paler than before, sweat beading on his forehead.

James had him under his spell for too long. He gritted his teeth, feeling the affects of using his power for so prolonged a time as well. “ _Do you know anything else about Mercedes? What her plans are, if she’s been in contact with anyone else_?”

Tyler shook his head again. “I don’t. I really don’t. I wish I did, please. You don’t know, okay? But I don’t know anything, I swear, please, just, please,” he pleaded. The wheedling, desperation in Tyler’s voice made James’ stomach roll and he quickly broke skin contact. He turned away and took a deep breath. Across the table, he could hear Tyler breathing heavily.

He jumped when he felt Kendall’s hand land on his shoulder. “Don’t,” he said and shrugged him away. “I’m fine.”

“Sure, you are.”

Kendall uncuffed Tyler from the table and led him out, leaving James to collect himself. After a few minutes, James was able to breathe right and his stomach settled. He met Kendall outside the interrogation room.

“Well, at least we know that she’s after something,” James said with a wry grin.

“Yeah but what? With her it could be anything.”

James sighed and shook his head. He didn’t know what to say. Kendall was right. There was no doubt that her motivation was to get back at her father, but there was no way of knowing just how far she’d go to do that.

They were interrupted by Kelly passing by. “Hey, guys, Gustavo wants to see you in his office,” she said, holding her clipboard close to her chest.

James and Kendall exchanged a look. “Crap.”

——

James knew what was coming when Kelly told them that Gustavo wanted to see them in his office. There was only ever one reason Gustavo called them into his office and that was to yell at them.

Gustavo didn’t disappoint. After yelling at them about the explosion and ignoring their protests that it wasn’t their fault this time, he dismissed them with a gruff “Get out,” and a flick of his hand.

James sighed once they were safely out of Gustavo’s office. They got the same lecture every time and he was kind of sick of it. Especially since it _wasn’t their fault_. He ran a hand through his hair as he and Kendall walked down the hall, heading back to their desks where he knew he had a stack of paperwork to do.

Kendall bumped his shoulder as they walked. “That wasn’t so bad,” he said, corner of his mouth lifted in a small smirk.

James huffed. “No, I guess not. Still sucks getting yelled at for something that wasn’t our fault.”

Kendall chuckled. “Well, to be fair, we do tend to blow things up a lot,” Kendall said and James couldn’t help but grin in response.

“Hey, James!”

James stopped and looked over his shoulder in surprise to see who was calling him, then smiled when he saw who it was.

Carlos Garcia was on the same team as James and Kendall searching for Mercedes. He was basically just an office worker though. He wasn’t allowed to go out into the field because he was too rare and valuable a creature to be allowed in any kind of danger. Carlos hated it and often complained about being stuck in the office doing boring paperwork while everyone else got to go out on cases.

James felt bad for Carlos but he also knew that Carlos was even lucky to have been able to join the FBI in the first place.

“Hey, Garcia, what’s up?” He looked Carlos up and down, not for the first time, trying to imagine what Carlos’ true form really looked like. The form that James saw now was just an illusion, or not an illusion. It was solid and real. If James were to reach out and grab Carlos’ hand, it’d feel exactly like it looked: a human hand.

But it wasn’t Carlos’ _real_ hand. James wasn’t sure Carlos even had hands. Hooves, maybe? He wasn’t sure. No one had seen a unicorn in centuries and all they had were faded images and paintings for reference.

James remembered when Carlos was first introduced to the team. He had almost laughed when Carlos revealed what he was, suddenly shy and bashful, contradicting the enthusiasm he had been exuding just moments before. (He also remembered the sharp elbow in the rib he’d gotten from Camille in the process.) But having Carlos around was pretty useful, even if he couldn’t help out with field work. He could heal any kind of wound, cure any kind of poison, and he had saved James’ life on more than one occasion.

Carlos stopped in front of them, breathing heavily, and looked between Kendall and James quickly before he cleared his throat. “Uh, I just saw Logan. He said he was looking for you,” he said to James but his eyes kept flicking back to Kendall. “Hey, Kendall,” he added, a small blush coloring his features.

“Hey,” Kendall said, lips quirking up in a small smile. They stared at each other for a few moments before Kendall broke the small silence. “Um, thanks again for, ya know,” he said, reaching up to rub his shoulder gently. He shifted his weight and cleared his throat, lips twisting into a wry grin. “I owe you one.”

James rolled his eyes. It was frustrating watching Kendall and Carlos interact sometimes. They both liked each other, they both knew that they both liked each other and yet, nothing ever happened between them. “Translation: I love you, Carlos, let’s get married and have weird but adorable half werewolf-half unicorn babies,” James said and took a special kind of pleasure in seeing Kendall’s eyes widen as James’ words registered.

“James!”

James’ widened his eyes, going for an innocent look. “What? You were totally thinking it. Don’t deny it, Kendall,” he said sternly, pointing a finger at Kendall’s face.

Carlos laughed and peered up at Kendall curiously. “Can male werewolves get pregnant?”

James’ eyes widened. He hadn’t expected Carlos to play along. He laughed while Kendall sputtered, arms flailing slightly in his embarrassment, ears burning red. “No!”

“Oh,” Carlos said and he sounded almost disappointed which sent James into another laughing fit.

Kendall sent James a dirty look, clearing his throat loudly. “So, what was this about Agent Mitchell?”

James quickly stopped laughing at the mention of Mitchell and he looked at Carlos expectantly.

Carlos blinked in surprise, eyes widening slightly. “Oh! Um, I’m not really sure. He just passed by my desk earlier asking for James,” he said with a shrug.

James let out a sigh and then groaned softly. “Me? For what?”

Logan Mitchell was the most annoying agent James had ever met. He wasn’t even a real agent as far as James was concerned. All he did was tinker around in the archives where they kept powerful and magical objects to be used when necessary. He didn’t like James and James didn’t like him. He was stuck up and kind of a jerk in James’ opinion and he had no reason to be looking for James.

Carlos shook his head and shrugged again. “I don’t know. He didn’t say.”

James let out another sigh and rubbed at the side of his face. “Alright, thanks for letting me know,” he said, wondering what he’d done to get Mitchell out of the vaults. He usually sent interns if he needed anything from the upper levels.

Carlos’ nodded and smiled. “No problem,” he said ducking around James. James turned to watch him go and when James turned back towards Kendall, he found him watching Carlos walk away as well, a wistful look on his face.

James shook his head. “You’re an idiot.”

Kendall’s gaze snapped towards James and he flushed red. “Shut up.”

——

Logan sighed heavily and glanced at his watch. He didn’t have time for this but of course he had to _make_ time for it. A missing item from the Vault wasn’t something to take lightly. Everything had to be accounted for or it’d be _his_ neck on the line.

He straightened when he saw Diamond come in with his partner. He knew exactly when James noticed him, his eyes widened and he nudged Knight and it was like having a door slammed in his face. James’ mind was always so open, thoughts coming and going freely that it was really obvious when he was shielding them from Logan.

Logan was used to it. No one wanted their thoughts read and Logan didn’t much care _to_ read them so it was a joint effort. Everyone shielded their thoughts from him and he did his best to not even try to read them.

Logan didn’t know what it was about Diamond that annoyed him so much. He just had this way about him. He was arrogant and irresponsible. He’d read the reports on the amount of damage control that was needed when Diamond and Knight were involved. But he didn’t dislike Knight so it was something purely _James Diamond_ that rubbed Logan the wrong way.

“What do you want, Mitchell?” Diamond asked when he reached his desk. He walked around and placed his hand on the back of his chair.

“The Seal of Solomon,” Logan said, crossing his arms.

Diamond’s brows furrowed in confusion. “The Seal of what now?”

Logan sighed. “The Seal of Solomon,” he repeated slowly. “You checked it out last week for that demon infestation, remember?”

Diamond’s face relaxed in realization. “Oh, yeah. I took that back though.”

Logan shook his head. “No, you didn’t. There’s no record of you checking it back in.”

Diamond paused to look at Logan carefully, brows furrowed again. “But I did,” he said slowly, then turned to Knight. “Right, Kendall?”

“Oh, no. Don’t bring me into this,” Knight said, taking a step away from them.

Diamond gave Kendall a look but Kendall just raised his eyebrows and lifted his hands in front of himself. Diamond rolled his eyes and sighed. “Whatever. I totally took that back.”

“Diamond, I’m the only one allowed to check anything back in. I think I’d remember you bringing it back and even if I didn’t, I would’ve put it down in the log. Find it or I’m going to have to report it in to Griffin.”

Diamond sighed. “Alright fine. I’ll find your damn Seal of Solomon,” Diamond muttered in annoyance. “Can I get back to work now?”

Logan stared at Diamond for a few moments longer before he nodded and stepped away from his desk, turning his attention toward Knight. “How are you doing, Agent Knight?”

Knight looked surprised that Logan was addressing him but he recovered quickly. “I’m fine. You?”

Logan nodded shortly. “Good. Have you made any progress on your case finding Mercedes?” He couldn’t help but ask now that he was there, since he and Mercedes had dated briefly. 

Mercedes wasn’t a woman that took no for an answer and once she set her sights on something, it was pretty much impossible to dissuade her of it. So when she’d walked down into the Vault and declared that they were going on a date, there wasn’t much Logan could do about it but nod and ask what time she wanted him to pick her up.

Despite her pushy, narcissistic nature, Logan had grown fond of her, especially after she’d gotten bored with him and broken it off after their fourth date. When she disappeared, he worried. About her and because of her. Mercedes was like a loose cannon, like a two year old throwing a temper tantrum, who knew what she was up to out there. Plotting world domination or shopping for new shoes, both were very high probabilities. He wouldn’t be surprised if she was actually doing _both_ at the same time.

“Nothing so far,” Knight said with a sigh. “Just a lot of dead ends. She’s good.”

Logan’s mouth twisted into a frown. “Well, if there’s anything I can do, just let me know.”

Diamond snorted softly from his desk and Logan’s eyes snapped towards him, brows pinched together gently. “What?”

“Oh, nothing. Just wondering how _you_ could possibly help.”

Logan’s eyes narrowed at Diamond’s derisive tone. “What’s _that_ supposed to mean?”

“Well,” James started but was cut off by Kendall.

“Thanks, Agent Mitchell, if we need anything, we’ll be sure to let you know,” he said with a smile.

Logan nodded at Knight then turned back to Diamond. “Don’t forget about the Seal,” he warned before he left, hands clenched at his sides. He felt dumb for letting Diamond get under his skin but he did it so easily. It was obvious Diamond didn’t think much of him and that was fine. Logan didn’t much care for Diamond either.

——

The rest of the day went by quickly. Kendall and James filled Camille, Carlos and the rest of the team in on what happened with Tyler. Now that they knew that Mercedes was out to steal something, they focused their time on making a list of renown thieves in the area to be put under surveillance. After that, James had a lot of paperwork, most of it old cases that he’d been putting off for way too long.

It was late when James and Kendall decided to call it a day, and they went out for drinks at their favorite bar before they each headed home. James was nursing his second bottle. He lifted the bottle and peered down into it, swirling the liquid inside.

Even though he had more pressing matters to think about, he couldn’t stop thinking about Mitchell. It aggravated him that he was able to get under James’ skin like that. “Ugh, where does he get off? He thinks he’s so much better than us just because he works down in the vaults,” James said, placing his bottle down with a little more force than necessary.

Kendall chuckled and arched an eyebrow. “You talking about Mitchell?”

“Yes! Who else would I be talking about?”

Kendall shrugged. “I don’t know. Sometimes I just tune you out,” he said then laughed when James punched him in the arm.

“I’m being serious here, Knight.”

Kendall shook his head and took a drink of his beer. “You know, I don’t blame him for being such a tightass about it. Some of the things we have down there _are_ pretty dangerous,” Kendall said, ever the reasonable one.

James hated that about Kendall sometimes so he didn’t even bother acknowledging his comment. “He does have a pretty nice ass,” he said thoughtfully instead. Just because Mitchell was an annoying asshole, didn’t mean James couldn’t admire the package, right? “If only he didn’t _act_ like one.”

Kendall blinked at James rapidly at the sudden change of topic. “What? Wow, not even the point I was trying to make, James,” he said, shaking his head, an amused look on his face.

“Oh shut up,” James said, elbowing Kendall in the side. “I’ve seen the way you check out Carlos’ ass when you think no one’s looking.”

Kendall’s eyes widened and his ear reddened. “What? No I don’t!”

James tilted his head to the side, brows bunching thoughtfully. “No? Oh, that must just be me then,” he said then shot Kendall a cheeky grin at the annoyed look on his face. He reached over to shove at his shoulder lightly. “I’m just messing, man. Calm down.”

“I am calm,” Kendall gritted out, turning back to his drink.

“Then why do you look like you’re about to rip my throat out?”

It was true. Kendall’s eyes kept flashing from green to gold and back again, a low growl escaping him. Kendall looked almost surprised to realize that he was doing it and he immediately stopped, clearing his throat embarrassedly.

James grinned again. “Don’t worry, Knight. You know I would never try to get between you and Garcia. Not that I have much of a chance. The guy’s totally in love with you.”

“Shut up. Carlos and I are just friends.”

“Mmhmm, Carlos, huh?” James’ grin widened. Kendall always made a point of being as formal as possible with Carlos but every once in a while he slipped and let his affection show. James could never resist teasing Kendall about it.

Kendall’s ears burned brighter. “You know what? We’re not talking about this anymore,” he said and averted his eyes back to his drink.

James laughed and leaned over to bump his shoulder against Kendall’s. “Come on, Kendall, I still don’t understand why you don’t ask him out. The guy’s had a huge crush since he joined the team.”

Kendall shook his head. “We work together, James. It wouldn’t be professional. Besides, I wouldn’t be good for him.”

James’ sobered up quickly, the smile on his face dropping, and he sighed. “You know that’s complete bullshit, Kendall. If you weren’t good then Carlos wouldn’t look twice at you.” 

It was known that unicorns had excellent judge in character. And even if that wasn’t the case, James had known Kendall for years. They’d even dated for a while after James’ failed attempt to seduce Kendall. He knew Kendall was a good man but sometimes Kendall had a hard time believing it. He’d always been that way and James figured it had something to do with Kendall’s past before the academy and James. Something that had happened, maybe something Kendall had _done_ that he still hadn’t been able to forgive himself for. He’d never talked about it though and James had learned how to respect Kendall’s boundaries.

Kendall shook his head again. “Just drop it, James. I don’t want to talk about it,” he said and James nodded, understanding that this was another boundary that James wasn’t allowed to press.

He didn’t have to be quiet about it though. “Fine, whatever you say. But I’m stating, just for the record, that I think you’re being stupid.”

“It’s been noted. Just like the dozens of other times you’ve said it.”

“No, like, really really stupid. Colossally,” James insisted, wanting to make his point clear.

Kendall just grunted in reply and finished off his beer before ordering another one. James didn’t mention Carlos for the rest of the night and their conversation moved back to safer territory, like Mercedes and what she could be planning to steal.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much love to [jaded_jane](http://archiveofourown.org/users/jaded_jane/pseuds/jaded_jane) for the beta. <3

Logan awoke with a groan to the sound of his phone vibrating across his bedside table. He reached out and grabbed it before it could clatter right off the surface. He opened one eye, still half asleep, and tried to focus on the lit screen. It took all of his concentration to swipe his thumb across the screen to accept the call and pressed it to his ear. 

“Wha?”

“Mitchell, get your ass back to headquarters.”

Logan blinked in surprise at the gruff tone. He hadn’t expected to hear Gustavo’s voice on the other side. Gustavo never called him directly. He always had Kelly relay any messages or orders he had for Logan. 

“Huh? Why? What happened?” he asked, voice still groggy with sleep. He rubbed at his eye with the heel of his hand, trying to rub the sleep out of it.

“No questions. Kelly will fill you in when you get here,” was all Gustavo said before silence followed.

Logan pulled the phone away from his ear and squinted at the bright screen flashing ‘call ended’ at him. He stared down at his phone in irritation at being hung up on. His first instinct was to roll over and go back to sleep. Whatever it was could wait until the morning. Except it obviously couldn’t if Gustavo was calling him at, he glanced at his bedside clock, three o’clock in the morning.

He let out a sigh and with another groan, rolled out of bed. He dressed quickly, pretty much running on autopilot, barely taking the time to wash his face and brush his teeth to properly wake himself before he was out the door.

Sometimes he wondered what his life would’ve been like if he hadn’t been recruited into the Supernatural Crimes Division, if he'd finished medical school instead. He’d probably have a lot more late night wake up calls that was for sure. 

He tried to be grateful for that as he climbed into his car. 

It wasn’t like he was unhappy with his life or anything. He liked his job for the most part. It was interesting and he still got some of the same satisfaction he imagined he’d get with being a doctor, that sense of accomplishment that came with doing something good for the world. It wasn’t the same, not by any means, but it was still better than nothing.

If he was honest with himself, he knew that being able to read minds in such a busy place as a hospital would probably have driven him crazy eventually. He could control it pretty well now, but it was hard and took a lot of focus to keep his mind guarded at all times and even still, sometimes he slipped.

As a child, he couldn’t control it at all. Everyone’s thoughts would just clamber into his mind and he would respond to them without thinking about it. His parents were confused at first, but when they realized what was wrong with him, they urged him to keep it quiet, to not let anyone know what he could do. It was hard for him. He had to pay extra attention to make sure that he only responded to the things people _said_ and ignored everything else.

Logan hated it. He hated being different from everyone else, hated having other people’s thoughts in his head. He had trouble at school once he started going. Everything was so loud and he didn’t know how to block out the other kids’ thoughts. He eventually started to refuse to go, crying and begging his mom to let him stay home until his parents finally decided to homeschool him.

At home, his mother taught him, not only the things he needed to learn for school, but she also helped him learn how to control his ability. As he grew older, he was able to block out other people’s thoughts by thinking of white noise and as time went by, he was able to just do it. It was mentally straining, but it was worth the exhaustion if he could have a quiet moment in his own head at last.

When it came time for him to enter high school, he decided to go. By then he felt confident enough in his control that he wasn’t worried about being overwhelmed by the other students.

He was surprised, however, by how hard it was to keep his mental block up during school, especially during tests. Those were the hardest for him to endure. Everyone was thinking so loudly, answers coming at him from every which way, some of them right, some of them wrong. He ignored them the best he could. He didn’t want to be a _cheat_. He knew he was smart, smarter than most of the people in his class. He didn’t need to cheat.

He hated how tempting it was anyway, to just get the answers from someone else’s head. He knew he was better than that, but he still couldn’t help but wonder why he was given this power if he wasn’t able to use it.

It was a constant thought all through high school, but it wasn’t until he was in college that he finally found out _why_ he was able to read minds along with discovering another ability.

—

It happened so fast, Logan had a hard time really remembering it detail for detail. All he remembered was being slammed into the dirty brick wall, the air getting knocked out of his lungs. He remembered gasping for air and a hand closing around his throat while something sharp and pointed pressed against the soft skin under his jaw.

He had panicked, arms flailing in fear to push against his attacker’s chest. All he could think was that he didn’t want to die, so he didn't notice the warmth gathering in his fingers, not until his entire hand was tingling with it. 

The next thing he knew, there was a light that seemed to come out of nowhere, bright and blinding. He turned his face away, eyes shut tight, and thrust his hands forward. His attacker screamed, and suddenly he was free. He barely took the time to see his attacker fall to the ground before he took off running. 

He ran as fast as he could until he was back at his apartment. Once inside, he leaned against the door, gasping for air. His heart was racing, thundering loudly in his chest. He was glad he lived alone because he didn’t think he’d be able to explain what had happened to anyone just then. After a few moments, he finally managed to calm down enough to venture further into his apartment.

He walked around, feeling jittery and anxious. His hands were shaking and he ran them through his hair, rubbed his face, smoothed down his shirt, anything to keep them occupied.

He walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and stared into it. His fingers tapped a nervous beat against the top of the fridge door. He wasn’t hungry so he reached in and grabbed a bottle of water, closing the fridge door afterward. He leaned against the counter and started to unscrew the cap. He paused halfway, staring down at his hands. 

What had happened back there? That light had come out of nowhere....

His hands started shaking again. He placed the water bottle on the counter behind him and held them up in front of him, staring at the back of his hands before he turned his wrist to look down at his palms. He closed them into fists, opening them slowly only to close them once more.

Had he done that?

He shook his head and let his hands fall back by his side.

No, he couldn’t have. That was impossible. Being able to hear a person’s thoughts was one thing, but being able to shoot light beams out of his hands was just ridiculous.

With another shake of his head, he grabbed his water and headed to his bedroom to get ready for bed. He went to sleep and tried to put the entire night out of his mind.

—

He didn’t hear anything about the incident until the next evening. He had spent the day feeling jumpy and paranoid. He even took a detour on his way to school so he wouldn’t have to pass by the alleyway. But that night when he turned on the news, they were talking about it. About the burned body they found in the alley.

He watched in shock, eyes wide and mouth parted. He’d had a feeling that the man was dead, but he hadn’t wanted to believe it, still couldn’t believe it. But it was the same alley so that meant....

He had _killed_ someone.

He glanced down at his hands and flexed them slowly, opening and closing them repeatedly.

But how? He didn’t even know he could do something like that. It was an accident. Self-defense. He couldn’t-

His stomach flipped at the thought. He had _killed_ someone. Someone was dead now because of _him_.

That was the complete opposite of what he wanted to do with his life. He was going to be a _doctor_. Doctors _saved_ lives, they didn’t take them away.

His stomach lurched and before he knew it, he was running to his bathroom, kneeling over the toilet as his dinner made a reappearance. He heaved until there was nothing left, and sat against the tub, knees pulled up to his chest, face pressed against them, breath coming in short, shuddery gasps.

He didn’t know what he was supposed to do now. How was he supposed to go on with his life after this? It didn’t matter that that man would’ve hurt him or worse. It didn’t matter that it was an accident. He had _killed_ someone. That’s all he could think about.

He sat in his bathroom like that for a long time until he was able to get his breathing under control and the pressure behind his eyes eased then disappeared completely. When he was sure he wasn’t going to burst into tears, he got to his feet and as he washed his face and brushed his teeth, he wished he had somebody to call, if only just to distract him.

But he had always been a loner, never able to make any kind of connection with his peers. Sure, there were people that he spoke to in class and he was part of a study group that met every Wednesday night at the library but he wouldn’t consider any of them _friends_. 

And that's how he'd always liked it. 

Until now. 

—

Logan kept to himself for the next few days, more so than he usually did. He tried not to let the guilt of what he’d done show on his face, but he still felt like everyone knew about it. He tensed every time he passed by a cop or security guard on campus. It felt like everyone was watching him, but he knew he was just being paranoid. He kept an eye on the news, but they didn’t mention the body again, and after a few days, he finally relaxed enough to stop looking over his shoulder every other minute.

He woke up almost a week later to someone pounding on his front door. He didn’t know who it could be, no one ever visited him, and his mother always called when she was planning to stop by. He figured it was probably just someone trying to sell him something he didn’t need and ignored it, rolling over in bed and pulling the blankets over his head.

The knocking persisted and only seemed to get louder with each passing moment. With a frustrated groan, Logan flung the blankets away and rolled out of bed. He ran a hand through his hair with one hand and rubbed the sleep from his eyes with the other as he dragged his feet across the carpet.

Groggily, he opened the door a crack. He was surprised to see a pretty young woman standing on the other side, dressed in a nice suit. She didn’t look any older than he was.

“Uh, yes?”

The woman beamed brightly at him. “Hi! Are you Logan Mitchell?”

“Um, yeah, that’s me,” he said and straightened, opening the door a little further.

She smiled at him, lips tinted a light pink, and flashed him a badge. “Special Agent Camille Roberts. Can I ask you some questions?”

Logan blinked in surprise, shoulders pulling back subtly. He gripped the doorknob tightly and licked his suddenly dry lips. “Wha- About what?”

“There was an incident that happened a couple blocks from here sometime last week.”

Logan’s heart pounded in his chest. Did she know? How could she know? “What about it?” he asked shakily, then immediately regretted it. He wondered if he should’ve played dumb.

The woman smiled softly. “Please, Mr. Mitchell, can I come in?”

He wanted to say no, slam the door in her face and climb back into bed, forget the whole thing happened, but it wouldn’t solve anything, wouldn’t change the fact that he was a murderer, and would only make him look suspicious in the end. 

"Uh, yeah, sure,” he said and pulled the door open wider, shuffling away from the door to let her in.

Agent Roberts smiled at him and stepped in. Logan closed the door behind her and then led the way over to the living room. “What is it that you need from me?” he asked, watching as she took a seat in his armchair before he sat down on the couch. 

She looked up at him and smiled, hands folded in her lap. “Do you know what happens with the truly bizarre cases?” she asked after a few moments of silence. 

Logan blinked at her in surprise. Of all the things he expected her to say, that was nowhere on the list. “Huh?”

“When there is no logical explanation for the cause of a crime, it’s turned over to my department.”

Logan felt a ball of panic settle in his stomach. His palms felt clammy and he clasped his hands together in his lap to keep them from trembling. “What do you mean?” he asked but had a feeling he knew. 

He concentrated on reading her mind, wanting to know what she knew. He’d never tried to get into someone’s head before, wasn’t even sure he could. His entire life had been focused on keeping everyone else _out_ , but he was desperate, and it didn’t hurt to try. 

_I know what you are._

Logan’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he sat back, suddenly, mouth gaping. 

Agent Roberts leaned forward, a small grin on her face. “Are you reading my mind right now?”

“Wha- But-” Logan sputtered out, unable to form a coherent thought, let alone a sentence. 

Agent Roberts suddenly laughed. _You are so cute._

“Don’t,” Logan said, hand coming up to cover his mouth. It was too much. He’d kept his secret so close and for so long that to have someone just _laugh_ about it was too much for him to handle. 

The agent suddenly sobered, face crumpling with concern. “Are you okay?” she asked, leaning forward to touch his arm lightly. 

Logan took a few deep breaths and nodded. “Ye-yeah, I’m…” he paused to take another deep breath. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine. Do you want me to get you a glass of water?”

Logan shook his head sharply. “No, I’m good. Really. Sorry about that. I’m just- How did you know?” he asked, feeling vulnerable and helpless. 

Agent Roberts laughed softly, leaning back in the chair again. “We checked your family tree,” she said simply. 

Logan’s brows furrowed in confusion. “My family tree?”

“You don’t know?” she asked in surprise, brows raising slightly. 

“Know what?”

“You have fairy blood,” she replied, like it was something Logan should’ve known. 

Logan stared in disbelief, mouth gaping for the second time that morning. “Excuse me?”

“You’re a fairy! Well, part fairy anyway.”

Logan wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “A fairy?” He repeated skeptically. 

“Yeah! You know, like the fair folk?”

“Are you- Is this some kind of joke?”

“No, no! It’s not a joke. You’re not human, Logan. Not completely. One of your ancestors was a fairy and that blood has been passed down through the centuries. You’re actually the first in your family in a really long time. Probably why you didn’t know, your parents probably don’t even know. It happens that way sometimes.”

Logan gaped at her. She looked and sounded so serious. He almost wished she _was_ playing some kind of joke on him. The alternative was a lot more worrying. “You’re crazy!”

“It’s the truth!”

Logan breathed deeply, trying to stay as calm as possible. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave now.”

“I’ll prove it to you!”

“How?”

She didn’t respond but then she didn’t have to say anything. Before Logan knew what was happening, she began to change and grow smaller, and in just a few seconds, a cat was sitting in the same spot Agent Roberts had been sitting.

Logan’s mouth open and closed in shock as she changed back. 

“Now do you believe me?” she asked, a smug smile on her face. 

Logan stared at her for a few moments before he pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes. “I think I’ve gone insane,” he muttered to himself. “This is some kind of nervous breakdown or something. You’re not real. This can’t be real.”

_It’s real, Logan._

Logan shook his head, closing his eyes tightly, trying to block her out of his head. He opened his eyes after a few moments and sighed. “I think I need that glass of water now,” he said, lurching to his feet.

—

Logan grabbed two waters from his fridge and offered one to Agent Roberts. She shook her head, declining and he shrugged, putting one back into the fridge. He leaned against the counter by the fridge, hands gripping the plastic bottle tightly in both hands. 

“Just because you’re a, you’re a,” he faltered, hand flapping nervously in her direction. He didn’t even know what she was, couldn’t even begin to guess what she was. 

“Shapeshifter,” she supplied helpfully, but he ignored her, continuing on as if she hadn’t spoken. 

“Doesn’t mean I’m a…” he trailed off, shaking his head. He couldn’t even say it. It was too ridiculous to even admit to himself. He twisted the cap off the bottle and gulped down half its contents quickly.

Roberts had sat down at the table and was watching him in amusement. “We could get you tested if you want.”

“I’ve had my blood tested before. Nothing strange has shown up. Don’t you think my doctors would’ve noticed if my blood wasn’t human?”

Roberts shrugged. “You’re more human than not, Logan. You have to be looking for them to see the abnormalities.”

Logan sighed and slumped against the counter. “So, what now? Are you going to arrest me?”

“For killing that man in the alley? I'm sure you had a very good reason for killing him, right?"

"It was an accident! I didn't even know I could do that! And he probably would've killed me if I hadn't killed him first!" Logan blurted out, hands flying out, almost dropping his water in the process. He barely managed to keep his grip on it, the plastic crinkling noisily in his hand. 

Agent Roberts held her hands up, eyes widening a fraction. "Whoa, calm down. We know. We've already linked him to a few other crimes in the area. And after meeting you, it's easy to see you're not a killer, Logan,” she said gently. 

Logan closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Okay, so why are you here then?" he asked, looking at her. 

The agent smiled. "I'm here to formally invite you to join us,” she said proudly, throwing her arms out. 

Logan stared at her again, blinking rapidly. “What, the FBI?”

“Yeah! It’s a great place for people like us. Our department is top secret and separate from the rest of the agency. No one even really knows we exist so we don’t have to hide what we are from others in the office, which trust me, can be really stressful in a normal work place,” she explained excitedly, leaning forward in the chair. 

Logan shook his head. That wasn’t what he wanted for his life. He already had a dream and he was almost close to accomplishing it. “I’m going to be a doctor.”

Agent Roberts smiled, nodding and reached into her pocket. She pulled out a card and offered it to him. “At least think about it, okay?”

Logan hesitantly walked over to take the card from her, holding it up to read it. "Okay,” he said, nodding his head. 

She beamed at him and sprang to her feet. “Great! I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you,” she said, winking at him. “I’ll let myself out.”

Logan stared at her, watching her walk out of the kitchen. He didn’t move until he heard his front door open and close, signifying that she had left. He glanced at the card in his hand and instead of throwing it away like his instincts were telling him, he put it in his back pocket. 

He didn’t really plan on thinking about it, so he was surprised when that’s all he could think about for the next few days. It didn’t make sense to him. He had always wanted to be a doctor. Nothing else had ever appealed to him but finding out he wasn’t one hundred percent human changed things. Knowing that there were other things out there intrigued him. He’d never believed in ghosts or anything like that before. But if Agent Roberts was telling the truth, ghosts and vampires and _fairies_ did exist. He was one of them. He didn’t know if he could go back to living his regular old life after knowing that. He’d always be wondering if everyone he met was who or _what_ they appeared to be.

Besides, not even logical, practical Logan could pass up the chance to work for a _secret government agency_.

He ended up calling her a few days later. 

—

On the way to the office, Logan tried to predict what could have happened that they needed him for. The first thing that came to mind was the discovery of another artifact, but it didn’t explain being called in so late at night. Something like that could have waited until the morning. His second thought was that there was some kind of security breach. The Vault had the best security system there was though. It not only incorporated the most advanced technology, but it was also protected by powerful wards and magic, making it almost impossible to break into.

But it was possible, if someone knew what they were doing, knew exactly what each ward and magic spell was to counteract it, and then had the best hacker get through the human technology.

He gripped the steering wheel tightly and hoped it was the first thing. He didn’t want to think about anyone breaking into the archives, didn’t want to think about some of the artifacts locked away falling into the wrong hands. Some of them were End-of-the-World dangerous.

Logan was on the verge of a panic attack by the time he parked outside the building. He quickly dialed Gustavo as he got out of his car. “I’m here,” he said, trying to breathe deeply when Gustavo answered.

“Meet Kelly down in the Vault,” was all Gustavo said before hanging up on him.

Walking into the building, Logan tried to keep his panic under control, telling himself to wait until he knew the full story before reacting. It was no use; he had always been a “worst case scenario” kind of thinker and it had only gotten worse as he got older, especially after learning that all the things that go bump in the night were _real_.

He chewed on his bottom lip as he pushed the button for the elevator. It opened automatically and he walked in, pulling out his keys, thumbing through them until he found the right one. He then turned toward the panel next to the elevator door, eyes focused on the floor he needed. B3.

There were actually three basement levels to the building. The first one down was for the human agents to use for storage, the second was where the SCD headquarters were located and then the final level was the Vaults. A key was needed to access the two lowest levels. The agents in the SCD each had a copy and only Logan and a few of the higher officials had access to the lowest level.  
He shoved the key into the slot and turned it.

 

After a short moment's pause, the elevator started to move. He leaned against the back wall of the elevator as it traveled down. It didn’t take long before it was jerking to a stop and the doors slid open.

Kelly was there on the other side waiting for him as he stepped out of the elevator.  
“What happened?” was all he said in way of greeting.

Kelly sighed and shook her head. “Mercedes happened. It looks like she broke in.”

Logan nodded once. Despite his panicky thoughts earlier, he felt reasonably calm now. Maybe it was learning that it was just Mercedes. She was many things, but evil was not one of them. “Do you know what was taken?”

Kelly shook her head again. “No. That’s why Gustavo called you in. We need you to go through everything and make a list of anything missing.”

Logan eyes widened slightly. “How many rooms were broken into?”

“Three.”

Logan nodded again. That wasn’t so bad. It could’ve been a lot worse, if he was being honest with himself. He tried not to think about how many items were housed in each room. Some of them held hundreds of small trinkets, while others held only a few large items.

“Okay. Give me a couple of hours,” he said rubbing the side of his face.

Kelly smiled at him, reaching over to squeeze his shoulder gently. “Good luck.”

—

Logan entered his office and immediately got to work, relieved to see that his computer was already on. At least Mercedes had saved him some time there. Now, he wouldn’t have to wait for his computer to start up before getting started. Of course, it would’ve been even better if she hadn’t broken in at _all_.

The first thing he did was check the security footage himself. Pure curiosity, really, but he was hoping he’d catch a glimpse of some of the things they stole to make his job easier. On his computer screen, he watched as Mercedes and another woman walked into his office.

The unknown woman sat down at his desk and turned on his computer while Mercedes wandered around his office, touching the things on his shelves like she always had when she used to visit him. The woman said something then, glancing over her shoulder at Mercedes and smiling. Mercedes laughed and sauntered over to lean over the woman’s shoulder.

The rest of the footage was just as boring. The woman hacked into the database and printed out some of the information. He fast-forwarded through the majority of it, until they were leaving the office, then he pulled up the footage from the hallway security camera. 

He pressed play and watched as they easily opened one of the rooms. They gave each other a celebratory high five, grinning before entering the first room. 

Mercedes walked out of the room a few minutes later with a sword. Logan paused the video and leaned closer to the screen. He couldn’t be sure until he checked, but he was pretty sure it was the adamantine sword Perseus supposedly used to cut off Medusa’s head. 

Logan couldn’t help but grin at the realization. “Oh Mercedes,” he said to himself, shaking his head and despite everything, his affection for her grew just a little bit more.

He pressed play and watched as Mercedes and the other woman took a few other things out of that room. Nothing dangerous as far as Logan knew. A helm that made the wearer invisible and gave them the ability to change their shape as well, if he remembered correctly. Most of it was armor or weapons but nothing that would really cause him concern other than the fact that they were all highly valuable. At most, Mercedes would be able to sell everything at a very high price on the black market. No one would pass up the chance of owning armor or weaponry crafted by the Greek gods.

It wasn't until Mercedes got into one particular room, that Logan started to worry. He sat up in his seat, leaning forward to peer at the screen more closely. Mercedes walked out with two small wooden boxes, symbols carved on every side. His blood ran cold, and he swallowed thickly. 

"What are you doing, Mercedes...?" He mumbled and fast-forwarded a bit. She didn't take anything else, and for that, he was grateful. That was the room where they kept the really dangerous apocalyptic artifacts. 

He quickly pushed his chair back, hands gripping the arms tightly, and sprang to his feet. He had to find out what she'd taken and see just how screwed they all were.

—

James was still running his fingers through his hair as he stepped into the office. He hadn’t had time to do anything with it and it was making him feel self-conscious. He spotted Kendall slouched at his desk, elbows on the desktop with his hands covering his face.

“You got called in too?” James asked with a yawn, covering his mouth.

Kendall looked up at him slowly. “Obviously,” he said tersely. 

“Hey, don’t get grumpy with me, Knight,” he said, pulling the chair out from his desk. He heard Kendall grumble something unintelligible as he dropped down into his chair. “Camille and Carlos?” he asked, swiveling around to face Kendall.

“They went to get coffee since our machine is still broken,” Kendall said, gesturing to the corner of the office where their sad, broken coffee machine sat. It’d been broken for months, but Gustavo refused to get them a new one. 

James immediately felt relieved at the news. He hadn’t had time to eat, or grab anything on his way in either. “So, do you know what’s up?”

Kendall sighed and let his arms fall to the desktop as he leaned back in his chair. “Nope,” he said, letting his head fall back and exposing his throat. In anyone else, the gesture wouldn’t have been much, but for Kendall, leaving himself that exposed showed the level of comfort and security he felt around James. 

James watched him, waiting for him to continue. When he realized that was all Kendall had to say, he sighed and sat back in his chair as well. He knew it had to be something important. There was no other reason to call them all in like this. More than likely, it had to do with Mercedes. 

He let out another sigh and turned towards his computer to turn it on. For the next few minutes, there was nothing but the soft hum of James’ computer coming to life.

By the time his computer started up, Camille and Carlos had returned. He glanced up at their laughter as they entered the office. 

“Good morning, James!” Camille called out cheerfully as she approached his desk, a cup in each hand.

James smiled, leaning back in his chair. “Hey, Camille. You bring me something?” he asked, eying the cups in her hands. 

“Of course,” she said, offering one.

James gladly took it from her. “Have I ever told you that you’re my favorite?” he said before taking a sip. 

Camille laughed and leaned against his desk. “You shouldn’t say things like that in front of Kendall. He might get jealous,” she teased, sending a quick look over her shoulder at Kendall.

James grinned. “Oh, don’t worry. Kendall knows he’ll always be number one in my heart,” James said, placing his hand against his chest and glancing over at Kendall as well.

Kendall rolled his eyes at him and pointedly turned his attention back to Carlos, who was standing next to Kendall, laughing. Kendall had his own cup of coffee now and he looked much more content now that Carlos was there. 

James resisted the urge to roll his eyes back. 

“So, we know what’s going on yet?” Camille asked, taking a drink from her cup. 

“Nope,” James said, popping the ‘p’ loudly, suppressing a grin. He saw Kendall glance at him out of the corner of his eye, lips quirked up in a small smirk. 

Camille sighed and slouched a little against his desk. “Guess we’ll find out when Gustavo’s ready to tell us,” she said, then pushed away from James’ desk, heading over to her own. 

“I saw Logan’s car on the way in,” Carlos said suddenly, wandering over to his own desk as well. 

James turned toward him sharply, brows furrowed. “Mitchell? So what?” he asked, suddenly annoyed. Just the mention of Mitchell’s name was enough to put him in a sour mood.

He'd finally found the Seal of Whatever Mitchell had been harping about a few days before, and after returning it, James had been banned from checking any other items out for six months. Now, if James needed anything for a case, Kendall would have to check it out for him. 

It was really unfair. It wasn't like James had _lost_ it or anything. He'd just forgotten about it. It had been in his desk drawer the whole time, so it wasn't even like he had taken it out of the building. But apparently he had a record or whatever, and Mitchell had been unrelenting. 

“Well, if he’s here, then maybe it has to do with the Vault,” Carlos said with a shrug. 

“You think someone broke in?” Camille asked, brows raised high on her forehead. 

James scoffed. “I’m pretty sure that’s impossible.”

Kendall shook his head. “No, not impossible, just really, really difficult.”

Their musings were cut off suddenly when Gustavo stormed into the office. “Conference Room. Now,” he said, not even pausing to address them properly as he hurried past, laptop tucked under his arm. 

Everyone scrambled to do as he said, all were curious and anxious to finally find out what had them there so early in the morning.

—

Once everyone was settled in around the long table in the conference room, Kendall spoke up. “What’s going on, Gustavo?”

Gustavo looked up from his laptop and let out a heavy sigh. “Mercedes broke into the Vault.”

All four of them sat up. It was one thing to speculate about the Vault being broken into, but James was pretty sure none of them actually believed it.

“What? How?” James asked, leaning forward, arms crossed on the table top.

Gustavo sighed and pushed away from the table, walking towards the screen embedded into the wall. The screen flickered to life and on it was a picture of a young woman with long dark hair, a mischievous grin spread across her face. 

“Stephanie King,” Gustavo said, returning to the table. 

“Who?” Kendall asked, brows furrowing slightly. 

“She’s a pixie,” Gustavo explained and they all groaned in unison. 

Pixies weren’t exactly _bad_ , but they liked to have fun and didn’t care at whose expense it was. James wouldn’t be surprised if she helped Mercedes for _free_.

“She has a record for breaking into the most high tech facilities just for the thrill of it,” Gustavo continued, pointing a small remote at the screen to click to another image. This one was a black and white security image of Stephanie. 

James studied the image for a moment before turning towards Gustavo. “So, what did she take?”

“Mitchell is down in the archives right now looking into it.”

James scoffed and couldn’t help but make a face at the mention of Mitchell’s name, subconsciously crossing his arms in defense. 

"You got a problem, James?" Gustavo questioned, tone sharp. 

James blinked, mouth parting in surprise at being called out. He looked towards Kendall for help, but he just shrugged at him. James forced out an awkward chuckle, turning back to Gustavo. 

"Uh, no, no problem" he said, adding a belated "Sir" when Gustavo continued to stare at him from behind his sunglasses. 

Gustavo turned his attention to Kendall, and James let out a small mental sigh of relief, relaxing once more. Even after years of working with him, Gustavo still scared James sometimes. 

—

By the time Logan finished reviewing the security footage and taking inventory of what was stolen, Gustavo had already started the meeting. He sighed and peeked through the glass door. He should’ve known that Gustavo wouldn’t wait for him. 

He tentatively knocked, before pushing the door open. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said softly, bowing his head slightly in apology. 

Gustavo just gestured for him to come in. “Do you have the list?”

Logan waved the sheet of paper in his hand. “Yeah," he said, walking further into the room. 

“Good. Tell us what she took and how dangerous it is,” Gustavo ordered brusquely. 

Logan swallowed nervously and nodded. He glanced around at the four agents sitting around the table, all watching him now. He knew Camille at least. They had gotten close over the years, and her presence made the ball of nerves in his stomach relax a little. 

“Um, can I?” he asked and gestured to the computer Gustavo had sitting in front of him.

Gustavo stared him down for a long moment until Logan started to fidget, heart thudding in his ears, then Gustavo nodded and turned the laptop towards Logan. Logan let out a relieved sigh and quickly logged into the database. Visuals would help, he figured.

“Well, most of what she took isn’t that dangerous. They’re valuable and would get a hefty price on the black market, but that’s pretty much it,” he started, fingers flying across the keyboard as he logged into the server. 

“Like what?” Logan looked up at the sound of Agent Diamond's voice, trying not to frown at him. 

“Well, for one she took the adamantine sword,” Logan explained, quickly pulling up the data on the larger screen for the others to see.

“The ada-what sword?” 

Logan sighed at the confused tone and fixed his eyes on Diamond. “The ada-man-tine sword," he repeated slowly. "It’s the legendary sword Perseus used to sever Medusa’s head.”

There was a moment of silence before Knight threw his head back and laughed. “Well, at least she has a sense of humor,” he said, voice heavy with amusement. 

Camille giggled while Logan grinned, glad he wasn’t the only one that found it funny. 

“I don’t get it,” Garcia suddenly said, looking around at them in confusion. 

Knight chuckled and leaned over unnecessarily into Garcia’s space. “Medusa was a gorgon just like Mercedes is,” he explained, smiling softly at him. 

“Oh,” Garcia said, then there was another beat of silence before it seemed to click. “Ohh,” he repeated, grinning at them. 

Diamond rolled his eyes at them and sat forward in his seat, placing one hand flat on the table. ”Okay, and what about the things that _are_ dangerous?” he asked impatiently. 

Logan sighed again, grin falling from his face. “Well, she took the four rings of the Four Horsemen and The Colt.”

“Wait. The Colt? Do you mean, _The_ Colt?” Agent Garcia asked, awe laced in his tone. 

Logan turned his attention to Garcia and nodded. “Yeah, it’s rumored to be able to kill _anything_ , but only if you have the right bullets.”

“And does she have the right bullets?” Camille asked, fingers tapping on the tabletop in a nervous manner. 

Logan grimaced. “Yeah, she does.”

“Okay, great. Anything else?” Knight asked, leaning back in his seat.

Logan shook his head. "Not really. I don't really know what her angle is. It just seems like her whole reason for breaking was to prove that she could. I mean, she didn't even disable the security cameras. She wanted us to know it was her."

Camille nodded, chuckling softly. "That sounds like Mercedes alright."

Logan nodded in agreement. Mercedes was narcissistic and self-centered. She'd definitely want the credit for breaking in. 

The room was silent for a long moment. “So, now what?” Garcia asked, breaking the silence. It was a very good question. Where were they supposed to even start? Everyone turned towards Gustavo, waiting for their next orders. 

“Well, find her!” he practically shouted, causing everyone to jump in surprise. “And bring back everything she took.”

Logan figured that was the end of it for him. He wasn’t a field agent, so he pushed away from the table, ready to get back down to the Vault. 

“Where do you think you’re going, Mitchell?”

Logan stopped halfway out of his seat. “Um,” he started, but wasn’t able to get anything else out before Gustavo was cutting him off. 

“You’re going to be helping on this, too.”

Logan’s eyes widened and he sank back into his chair in surprise. “What? Why?”

“Because you know the most about the things Mercedes took and because I said so!” Gustavo said, making Logan jump again, shoulders raising slightly in defense. 

“But he’ll only slow us down, Gustavo!” Diamond voiced, slapping his hand on the table. 

“Be quiet!” Gustavo shouted and Diamond immediately sat back in his chair, lips pressed tightly together. He at least had the decency to look embarrassed about his outburst.

Logan sighed and sat back as well. He hadn’t been out in the field in a really long time. He’d gotten so used to being on his own, only interacting with people when he had to, that the thought of having to go out and interact with the general public made his stomach tighten anxiously.

But he’d do it, because it was his job. And he wouldn’t slow anyone down either.


End file.
